A tall summer lawn is a healthy summer lawn.

All spring long we’ve had to mow our lawns at least once a week to keep up with its rapid growth. Like most of you, I’ve been mowing it low to try and gain some time between mowing. That has all changed now that the heat and dryness of summer have arrived. Now we need to adjust our attitude and our mowing height. Don’t hate your lawn…. back off and chill out to help your lawn get through these hot, dry days.

One low mow too many

Then out come the sprinklers (at noon no less) to
try and save the scalped lawn…why people, why?

Say no to the low mow
To help your lawn survive dry summer weather let it get taller…as tall as your lawn mower will adjust…4” to 5”. If you continue with the low mow, the sun will heat the soil to temperatures that will kill the roots of your grass. A lawn left long shades the soil. This prevents soil temperatures from getting high enough to kill the roots. You may like the look of a shorter lawn, but if the soil temperature goes above 85° to 90° for three consecutive days, the root system dies. Once that happens, you’re looking at a lot of grass seed and a lot of watering in late summer and early fall as you replace a lawn that could’ve been saved if it had been left a little longer now.

I timed my previous mow based on the forecast last week. It isn’t bocce height, but at least it still looks cool and green.

Make the most of your water
There comes a time when you just must water. Traditional wisdom tells us that, for a lawn to remain healthy, it needs an inch of water a week. What you need to know, though, is that the lawn needs that inch of water all at once to get any real benefit from it. This means that you should water your lawn heavily then not at all for a week. With a limited amount of water available to most of us, we have the tendency to try and move the sprinkler around the yard to make sure that we get the whole lawn watered at one time without any regard to whether it is getting enough water for more than temporary relief.

Here’s a better way. If you have watering restrictions that only allow you to water every other day for two hours, let your lawn sprinkler soak one area for the full two hours. When your next watering opportunity arrives, move the lawn sprinkler to the next section and soak it with at least an inch of water.

Adjust your sprinkling system
Folks with underground sprinkling systems need to follow the same advice. These systems can be programmed to water different zones at different times. Unfortunately, most folks set them up to water each zone for ten or twenty minutes every day. Instead, set them up to soak one zone each day with an inch of water then do a different zone the next day. The reason for all this is to take the best advantage of the limited water we have. By putting an inch of water on the lawn, you’ll be soaking the soil to a depth of 6”. Water at this depth in the soil will not evaporate quickly, and it’s where the roots of the grass are located so it can be absorbed. Quickly spraying the lawn might perk it up briefly but most of that moisture is lost to evaporation and can never penetrate deep into the soil to get to the roots.

Avoid watering right before dark if possible. If the blades can dry out quickly, the lawn will be less prone to picking up a fungal disease. Dry blades are happy blades. Watering just before dawn is the ideal option.

Tuna can rain guage
At this point folks will ask me, “How long do I need to leave the sprinkler on to put on an inch of water?” Since we all have different lawn sprinklers and water pressure, I can’t answer that question. This is something we must all determine on our own. You can get a rain gauge and leave it out there until it has an inch of water in it. There’s no need to buy a rain gauge though (but they are handy). You simply need to take a small, empty tuna fish can and place it in the area you’re watering. Don’t shut it off until it is full. Make a mental note of how long it took, and you’ll always know how long your setup takes to put out an inch of water. That’s it. Water deeply then take a break for a week.